We have put together a few tips and
suggestions on mounting Tsukayu Hard Bags. These are in addition to the
Tsukayu Instructions that come with the bags. These are just some helpful
tips that we have learned from mounting these bags ourselves.

Exhaust and
Component Clearances

When mounting the hard bags, make sure to maintain
at least one inch of clearance between
the bags and your exhaust.
Do not put the bags closer than one inch to your exhaust. Find some
type of material to set on your pipes as shown to the right to get your
spacing.

Bracket Angle: The Chromed Stainless Brackets shown to the right come standard with
all bag kits except the
Quick Release Bags.

Notice the angle of the
Tsukayu Mounting Brackets. You can adjust the angle to
accommodate the desired bag height. Be extremely careful to check for
clearance between the mounting brackets and components like brake
calipers, belt guards, etc, when the bike's rear suspension is fully
compressed . Tsukayu has new "Z" Brackets available and we are
making sure that these are included with any bikes which have clearance
problems. The new Z Brackets usually do not have clearance
problems and use slightly longer spacers. The left Front Bracket is
usually the one that you have to worry about on certain bikes. On
certain bikes you will also receive a combination of short and long Z
Brackets. Your invoice from us will state where the short Z Brackets
go (front or rear).
If necessary you can put the front
brackets at the most horizontal angle (pointing back) and the bags will
still be secure. The Tsukayu Brackets are very heavy duty you do not
want them to come in contact with anything on the bike or you might have some damage. If you
have any questions on your bracket angle, then tighten them up and ride
the bike. This is a good idea before you drill holes in your bags.

There is a slight indentation on most motorcycle side rails where
the rail bolts are installed. Your mounting kit will have spacers that will be installed between the side rail and your
Tsukayu Bag
Bracket. The spacers are anywhere from 5mm to 30mm long depending on
the bike. During installation, loosen both side rail bolts, but only
take one out at a time.

Installing the spacers may not be necessary if you already
have Passenger Backrest Mounting Hardware installed. You just need
to measure how thick your mounting hardware is, or dimension out from the
frame rail. Then measure the thickness of the supplied spacers that
come with the bags. Subtract the Backrest Mounting Hardware
thickness from the Spacer Thickness. You can cut the Spacers to that
thickness and use the supplied Bolts. You basically want the Bag
Brackets out from the frame rail at least the thickness of the supplied
Spacers.
may need longer bolts
if Backrest Mounting Hardware is already installed on the bike.
If needed or desired you can put some of the spacer width between the
bag and the bracket by installing washers. This also may be
helpful if your bike uses 10mm bolts on the siderail and the clearance
is very tight between the bolt head and the bag lid.

You can see that the bike to the upper right has the supplied
Hex Head Bolts installed on the Side Rails. We have installed Button
Head Bolts on our
bikes Side Rails.
When using the Button Head Bolts, you will need to have a hex
bit Socket Drive. You also will have to have them all the way
tightened before the actual final bag is installed. You can not get
a hex driver or Allen Wrench in there to tighten it up afterwards.
During bag installation, the brackets can still be re-positioned slightly.

Marking the Bags:

We have found that it is much easier to have one person hold the bags
while you mark. You need to have this exact.

Tsukayu suggests that you put paint or some other substance on the bracket
so when you press it against the bag it will transfer onto the tape that
you installed on your bags. We have found this to be slightly
difficult.

We use a very short, sharpened pencil (one like you would find at a putt
putt golf course). Just have your helper hold the bag exactly where
you want it and against the brackets, then carefully mark around the
brackets onto the tape.

When drilling
always drill a small pilot hole first.

When removing
tape, be very careful. Pull tape slowly towards the hole during
removal.

Marking the
second bag:

The instructions will have you remove the first bag
after drilling after making sure that it fits correctly. You will
then tape the second set of brackets onto the brackets that you have
bolted onto your previously drilled bag.

The instructions state: Place the
bags facing each other on a flat surface, and on a soft towel or blanket.
Use a straight edge to back both bags against so they are in line front to
rear. Slide the un-drilled bag away and back in to see how the bolts will
touch to mark the back. Mirror/transfer the bolt holes as was done for the
first bag. Drill your holes as you did on the first bag. Peel and
discard the tape.

We have found that placing the bags on a table or something that can be
moved then pushing them against a wall or door will help in getting the
bags parallel with each other. You need to have this exact.

Bolts and Spacers
& Misc.:

We used Button Head Allen Head Bolts
instead of the supplied Hex Head Bolts for bag installation as shown to
the right. The supplied bolts are M8 x 25mm. This is just
personal preference and I like the look better. If you do decide to
use rounded Button Head Bolts instead, you will need a 5mm Hex Bit Socket
Drive.

The bags come with washers to use on the inside, we used fender washers
instead on the bottom bolts of each bag. Using larger Fender Washers
is also only personal preference.

The bags used to come with rubber washers to be placed against the outside
of the bags for a weather seal. They do not come with those anymore
and Tsukayu states that they are not necessary and not to be used. The bags no do not
come with metal lid supports now, they have leather instead.

If you notice that on full suspension compression either of your
bags touch any part of the bike, you will need to do a small modification.
You can easily add another washer in between the bottom bracket bolts and
bag to get the bottom of the bag out a little. You can also if
necessary add a 1/4" spacer instead of the washer and just put a M8 x 30mm
bolt in instead.
If using the Quick Release bags with Ghost / Edge Brackets, the bags will
be out another 3/4" compared to using the Tsukayu Brackets with 5mm
spacers, you should
have no clearance problems with the Edge Brackets.

After you have
ridden a few miles check all mounting bolts for tightness. Also
check the two small screws on the bottom of each lock. The lock
screws are on the bottom of the lock cylinder holding the small plate.
If they are loose then take one apart at a time and apply some loctite on
the threads.

LED Turn Signals:The LED Turn Signals have Load Banks installed in each bag. The
Load Banks simulate the load of your stock incandescent lights so your LED
Turn Signals will work.
If using the LED's by themselves and not in parallel with original
lighting you will need to leave the Load Banks wired up.
If using the LED's as running lights and Turn Signals together, you can
not use the Load Banks (they will get to hot). You would need to use
an external Load Bank that is smaller and designed for that application.
Most Run-Turn-Brake Kits will take care of this.

FAQ:How close are the Tsukayu bags to the bike? Tsukayu bags
installed using the standard included brackets (not Quick Release) will be
appx. 1 1/4" away from your side rail. The Quick release bags with
the flat back will be appx. 2" away from your side rail when installed
using
Edge Brackets. The bags on some
bikes will be out a little further allowing for suitable clearance of belt
guards, etc with the mounting brackets.

Can I use any brackets to mount the Tsukayu Bags?
All of the bags except the Quick Release are indented on the back side to
accept the Tsukayu Stainless Chromed brackets. This allows you to
get the bags as close as possible to the bike. It is very difficult
to use anything except the Tsukayu Brackets unless you pick the
Tsukayu Quick Release Bags.
The Quick Release Bags have a flat back.
You can use just about any type of bracket to mount the Tsukayu Quick
Release Bags. The
Edge Brackets are the easiest to
use on the Quick Release Bags. The Edge Brackets are quick release
and will allow you to easily remove the bags for cleaning or if you just
want to ride without them once in a while.

Quick
Release Bags with flat back shown below. You can see the back
comes up higher compared to the regular
Strong Bags, allowing you to install the brackets as high as possible on
the HardBags.
That means, you may install the HardBags as low as possible
on your bike.